Bosch Has Two Cases Dropped on Him
My rotation of audio books has meant it has taken me a while to return to the world of Harry Bosch this year. I was definitely ready when I started listening to The Drop, and I was rewarded with a great book.
If you are new to the series, Harry Bosch is a Los Angeles homicide detective. Since this is book fifteen, there is a lot of history to with character at this point. Not only that, but other characters from author Michael Connelly might make cameos in any book (although there is only one reference to one here). While you can follow the story if you start here, there are nuances and relationships you’ll miss out on if you do, not to mention some spoilers for plot points in previous books.
At this point in the series, Bosch is working in the Open-Unsolved Unit as a floater. He and his partner take any case that comes back with a fresh hit that the other teams don’t have the time to handle. As this book opens, they’ve just been given a fresh lead to follow. Blood from a twenty-two year old homicide has come up with a match to a convicted rapist. The catch? The man was only eight-years-old when the crime took place.
Harry and his partner have barely started on it when they are called to the scene of a fresh death. Councilman Irvin Irving’s adult son has been found dead outside a hotel in Hollywood. The question is, was he pushed or did he jump? Given their history, Bosch is surprised to find that Councilman Irving requested he work this case. Can Bosch navigate department politics and solve both cases?
I was immediately hooked on both storylines. The puzzle of the first and the history we have with Irving made me want to know what was going on in both cases. When this series is at its best, I am in awe of how Bosch is able to follow clues to come up to a logical conclusion. That’s the case here. The plotting is great and the pace never lags since there are two cases to balance. One aspect of things was left dangling, but it was very minor. I have my own theory about what happened, but it wasn’t important to the story that was being told overall.
I will say that one of the stories goes to a very dark place. It fits the series, and it certainly didn’t go as dark as it could have. This isn’t one of my normal cozies, so there is more violence, language, and sex than in books I would normally recommend. None are excessive, so as long as you know this going into the book, you should be fine.
Bosch can be a mixed bag as a character. He’s a natural loner who has to deal with a partner. Naturally, this gives us some added conflict. While I absolutely do not agree with some of his partner’s behavior over the course of the book, he definitely had a point in how Bosch was treating him. On the other hand, there are other relationships in his life that round him out. I’m especially enjoying watching his relationship with his daughter grow. No matter how long we’ve known the characters, they are always strong.
As I said earlier, I listened to the unabridged audio with Len Cariou as narrator. I did find a couple of scenes annoying with what he decided to do with the characters, but overall, he did a fine job.
The Drop is another strong entry in the Harry Bosch
series. If you haven’t caught up yet,
you’ll be pleased with this one.
Nice review, Mark. I've never read a book by Michael Connelly, I've always heard he's an excellent writer
ReplyDeleteI have never read Michael Connelly and while I've heard of Bosch somehow never knew that Connelly writes that series. I need to pick up the first book!
ReplyDeleteI have heard such good things about the Bosch series, I really must start reading it.
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